The present invention relates to devices for injecting, delivering, infusing, dispensing or administering a substance or product, and to methods of making and using such devices. More particularly, it relates to containers for containing a substance or product to be injected or delivered to a patient, and to a product container holder for a container and for an injection device for administering a liquid product, e.g. a liquid drug. The invention also relates to a sub-assembly comprising a product container and a product container holder, and to a method for assembling an injection device, e.g. an auto-injection device or auto-injector.
Injection apparatus or devices, including so-called automatice injectors or auto-injectors, are known from the prior art. In the case of auto-injectors, a product or substance to be administered is automatically administered after the auto-injector is triggered, i.e. a needle is automatically injected into a patient's tissue and the product is then automatically delivered. In some auto-injectors, the needle is automatically retracted into the auto-injector after a product delivery is complete. In other auto-injectors, the needle is manually removed from the injection point.
In the case of auto-injectors, a product container containing the product to be administered is often accommodated in a product container holder. The accommodated product containers can be so-called standard syringes, or an ampoule, vial or reservoir, which are often made of glass. To reduce the complexity of approval proceedings for product containers, standard syringes which have already been approved may be built into or used with injection devices or auto-injectors. Standard syringes can comprise a flange at their distal end, i.e. the end opposite the needle, which is also referred to as a finger flange because it forms an abutment for the middle and index finger when manually administering the contents of the syringe. Simultaneously using the flange to fasten the product container to a product container holder is known from the prior art, as described for example in DE 10 2007 013 836 A1 (and its equivalent US Publication 2010/0137801). Quite large forces and/or momenta are exerted on the syringe flange when advancing the product container to inject the needle and deliver the product. In certain circumstances, this can cause the syringe flange to break after the injection device is triggered, making it no longer possible to properly administer the product.
Because injection devices, including auto-injectors, are mass-produced, they are assembled mechanically. In addition to high safety and reliability requirements, demands are also therefore made on the parts of the injection device with respect to their handling and/or ability to be mechanically processed, e.g. formed and/or assembled.